As computer programs have advanced in the project management field, color-coded project status reporting has been used to provide quick and easy visual identification of data highlighting or categorization. Although this has made information more identifiable, the options have been limited. Color-coded project status reporting has only allowed a user to display pre-defined images. Conventional systems do not allow the user to customize the visual representation of data.
“Stoplight reports” or other color-coded project status reports typically show a green indicator for items on track, a yellow indicator for items at risk, and a red indicator for items in trouble. These color-coded reporting options do not offer the user any control in defining data categories, adding more categories, or displaying different colors or types of images. Prior stoplight reports have not allowed a user to associate indicators with different types of data, such as showing a purple flag for employees whose last name begins with A to G, a yellow bubble for ages between 30 and 65, and a blue smiley face for U.S. citizens.
In view of the foregoing, there is a current need in the art to replace a presentation of numeric and textual data, which takes significant mental analysis to evaluate, with quickly recognizable visual images for identifying status, trends, or groupings. There is also a current need for a customizable ability to visually identify data in a variety of ways.